On spring season: “It gave us an opportunity to incorporate a couple of our newcomers. We’d signed a couple junior offensive linemen who came in in January, that provides us depth in our O-line. [Wide receiver] Speedy Noil and [quarterback] Kyle Allen, explosive offensive players, were able to blend in and get some reps. [We were able to] bring along some of our defensive players. …We didn’t have a spring football game for our fans, which I know was hard for them, but I think they’re going to be really excited about the stadium that I’m looking at out my window right now. It also gave us an opportunity to have controlled scrimmages with our players and put them in some situations that we might not have been able to do in an open scrimmage situation.”

On progress of Allen, an early enrollee at quarterback, who is competing for the starting job with sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill:
“He should be going to prom next week, he and Speedy,” Sumlin said. “Both those guys came in here with the mindset that they wanted to play as true freshmen. They’ve handled everything that we’ve thrown at them academically, have finals this week. Athletically they’ve been able to handle the offense and the growth. With the installation [of the offense] we were able to move along a little quicker with him than we have in the past – we changed some things in how we do things in a meeting schedule standpoint early this spring. We were able to get quite a bit of installation in with the players before we had started the practice process because of the number of guys offensively and defensively that are going to have to play for us. He’s handled it. The thing now is he’s got the tools, he’s got the basics of the offense, he’s got progressions and what we expect out of him. I’ve said before the summer time is a great time for our quarterbacks to continue to improve. They run the 7-on-7′s, they run the off-season program. …I would say both of those young guys, Kenny Hill and Kyle are going to continue to compete into and through two-a-day practices.”

*Sumlin will attend next week’s NFL Draft in New York, with quarterback Johnny Manziel, offensive lineman Jake Matthews and receiver Mike Evans all expected to be high picks.

*On SEC remaining at an eight-game schedule with a permanent cross-over opponent in South Carolina and a rotating East division opponent: “It doesn’t really matter what I want,” he said. “I learned that quick . We’re the new guys in the league. I just kind of listen and see what happens. Whatever happens, happens and we play it.. …For me, after listening to other programs and the commissioner, there’s a lot of tradition in the league that would have had to change. …We didn’t really have a dog in that fight as far as long-standing cross-over rivalries.”

Sumlin said the requirement to play one ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac-12 team annually should lead to enough strength of schedule for the league’s top teams to be included in the new College Football Playoff.

On much-needed defensive improvement going into 2014:
“We had a number of guys who were out with surgical situations from the situation – our D-line our D-ends (Jay Arnold, Gavin Stansbury, Daeshon Hall)… It forced Alonzo Williams and Tyrell Taylor and Hardreck Walker to really step in there and get a bunch of reps.

“The D-line was hard to evaluate because of the injuries. I felt our linebackers got better. [Sophomore middle linebacker and Jesuit product] Jordan Mastrogiovanni has really taken charge and made some steps and has really taken over as the leader of our defense.”

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